Families of killed trader, Omar Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti demand impartial probe in Hyderpora Encounter

After the families of two businessmen killed in Hyderpora gunfight on Tuesday contested police claims that the deceased were overground workers (OGWs) for terrorists, the National Conference and the Peoples Democratic Party demanded a time-bound probe into the incident.

According to the police, a Pakistani terrorist and his local associate Mohammad Amir, along with two civilians — Altaf Bhat and Mudassir Gul — were killed in the encounter in Hyderpora locality, where an illegal call center and a terror hideout were allegedly being run.

The families of Bhat and Gul, however, refuted police claims that their kin was helping terrorists and demanded that the bodies be returned for burial.

Kashmir IG Vijay Kumar said Gul was an active associate of militants and was running the call center on the premises owned by Altaf. He said Altaf would be counted among the “harbourers” of militants.

“He (Bhat) had kept the tenants and the police had no information about it. The responsibility of the owner does not end with renting out the place,” the IGP said.

Video clips of family members of Altaf were posted on social media today with PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti retweeting the same. The clip features Altaf Bhat’s daughter saying, “…My father was called for a search thrice. On two occasions he was sent back but on the third, he was killed. When I asked the security person why my father was killed, he just smiled. What can I say?”

Posting the video of the girl, Mufti tweeted, “Using innocent civilians as human shields, getting them killed in cross-firing and then conveniently labeling them as OGWs (overground workers) is part of GOI’s rule book now. Imperative that a credible judicial inquiry is done to bring out the truth and put an end to this rampant culture of impunity.”

Meanwhile, former chief ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti have demanded an impartial probe in the encounter at a house in Srinagar’s Hyderpora area.

The gunfight took place on Monday in which four persons, including a foreign militant and a local militant, were killed. The police said two of the four were overground workers of terrorist groups.

“Using innocent civilians as human shields, getting them killed in cross-firing, and then conveniently labeling them as OGWs is a part of GOIs rulebook now. Imperative that a credible judicial inquiry is done to bring out the truth and put an end to this rampant culture of impunity,” Mufti tweeted.

“An impartial and credible inquiry into the recent encounter in Hyderpora is an absolute necessity. There are far too many questions being raised about the encounter and about the people killed.” Omar tweeted.

“There have been numerous instances of fake encounters in the past and the questions raised about this #hyderporaencounter need to be answered swiftly and in a credible manner.” Omar tweeted.

Police said four persons were killed in an encounter at Hyderpora in Srinagar on Monday, including the foreign militant identified as Haider and his accomplice.

Inspector General Police Vijay Kumar said in a press conference that an overground worker of the militants and the house owner were also killed during the encounter. He said that the house owner was killed in a crossfire while Gul, living on rent in the building, had provided shelter to Haider and his associate.

The families of two persons, however, have disputed the police version.